Review Fix Exclusive: Jonny Parks Talks ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ And More

Review Fix chats with singer-songwriter/guitarist Jonny Parks, who discusses his creative process and latest song, “Smoke and Mirrors.”

About Parks:

Born in Westchester, NY, singer-songwriter/guitarist Jonny Parks is an artist of mixed genres. Having shown an interest in music at the early age of 8 by owning a keyboard and a harmonica, Jonny Parks has become a multi-instrumentalist who works on mastering his craft and broadening his musical horizons. Starting classical guitar at 16 and singing by 19, Parks incorporates sounds of Soul, Jazz, R&B and Blues into his repertoire of sound. With the release of three EPs (Room 327, DrugFall, and Sidekick Stories) and his first album underway, Jonny Parks is steadily gaining popularity throughout NYC with performances in venues such as: Rockwood Music Hall, The Bitter End, Desmond’s Tavern, Pianos, Amateur Night at the Apollo and more. Parks is currently a literature major at SUNY Purchase who uses storytelling lyrics and unique narrative on his original songs as well as interpreted covers about love, addiction, and music. Jonny Parks was also featured in Relix Magazine’s July/August 2015 CD Sampler featuring Grateful Dead.

Review Fix: What makes the Jonny Parks brand unique?

Parks: What makes my brand unique is that I am musically versatile and a storyteller like no other. I draw from my inspirations in a way that no other artist does I believe. In my music, you’ll hear 60s soul, 70s funk, 00s R&B and even elements of 90s hip hop. Over the years, I’ve learned how to embody the very sound that inspires me to create in order to produce my own image and sound. I’ve also been told I’m a hell of a guitarist too!

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2017?

Parks: My goals for 2017 are to grow even more musically and to simply grow my fan base. My goal is to have the best album coming from an indie New York artist, whether it be with this upcoming release or with the next project.

Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?

Parks: I want my music to affect people and let them know that we all have issues we are trying to overcome. My upcoming album “The Portia LP” deals heavily with the theme of addiction. I would like for people to listen to the lyrics and apply them to their lives if they are in need of change.

Review Fix: What makes your latest song a special one?

Parks: “Smoke and Mirrors” is a special one because of the way I decided to write about unrequited love. The song is in a 60s Motown style, which was a completely new thing for me. Amy Winehouse is a huge musical inspiration of mine too. I feel like once she passed, there was a musical void of authenticity left behind, especially in pop music. I hope to fill that void someday and a create a sound that people will remember. Also, I feel as though songwriters today don’t put full emotion and honesty into their songs. With “Smoke and Mirrors,” the singer is completely powerless and child-like to the woman he is singing to.

Review Fix: How was it written?

Parks: It was written with James Brown in mind, actually. Like I said, it was the first of it’s kind for me. The lyrics are pretty simple although there are some clever lines. When I was writing it, I had no idea what it was about. It reminded me of a Beatles song… any one that has no real message or theme in it (think of “I am the Walrus”). It wasn’t until after I recorded it I thought, “Oh! This song is actually about me!” I think every songwriter has been there multiple times.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Parks: The next thing for me would be to push hard into furthering my reach by playing as many shows as I can this summer and to create music better than my last project. My favorite thing to do is to grind, work, and better myself. I also love surrounding myself with people who have the same work ethic that I have. I know I’ll be a success because I have never believed in quitting… Momma and pop taught me better than that.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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